ONLINE MARKET LINKAGE FOR ORISSA APPLIQUE WORK LAUNCHED

Bhubaneswar:

HDFC Bank recently launched India’s first ‘online market linkage programme’ for Self Help Groups (SHGs).

In the first stage, the programme will include orissa artisans engaged in the Applique work in Pipili, stone carving from puri and making of sambalpuri sarees. It also creat market linkage for artisans working in Chikan embroidery work on garments from Lucknow, Silk Saree and materials from Thiruvarur,Kanchipuram, terracota toys from Cuddalore, Tanjore art paintings and art plate from Thanjavur.There are also SHGs that manufacture eco-friendly plates out of arecanut tree seath leaf. These plates are biodegradable, disposable, hygienic and cheaper alternative to plastic and paper plates.
 
This is the first such initiative by any bank in India to help the rural industry and artisans to improve their incomes and livelihood by offering them an online, readymade and hassle-free market.

As a pilot, brochures of all the products manufactured by the SHGs will be put up on an intranet site especially created for the purpose accessible by employees. Soon, this will be scaled up to include the bank’s entire customer base.

Announcing the initiative in Chennai, Mr. Rajender Sehgal, Senior Executive Vice President, HDFC Bank said, “We realised that women running small micro enterprises and SHGs from their homes, besides timely and adequate credit, required support by way of market linkage. Lack of marketing infrastructure deprives them from getting the right value for their produce as intermediaries in the value chain would corner most of that. This online market linkage programme promises to offer SHGs direct online access to a wider market by crunching the sales chain and getting both the SHGs and their members a better value proposition.”